Effect of Burn Scar Pattern Variability on Medium Resolution Burnt Area Mapping in Southeast Asia

Analysis of burn scar pattern variability in insular Southeast Asia was carried out to evaluate its effect on regional burnt area mapping with medium resolution (250-500 m) satellite imagery. Burnt area maps based on 16 high resolution SPOT 4 and 5 images were overlaid on land cover and soil maps. Although the number of small burn scars (<25 ha) was found to be high throughout the region, the proportion of total burnt area found in small scars varied remarkably (from 3% to 97%) between study sites. Unlike land cover, soil type was found to be a good indicator for usability of medium resolution burnt area mapping. A medium resolution burnt area mapping simulation (where 500times500 m grid cells containing at least 50% burnt were considered detected as burnt) resulted in 86% detected burnt area in wetlands (peat and alluvial soils) as opposed to only 33% in other areas.